Shift work may increase risk of COVID-19People who work irregular or permanent shifts were associated with double the risk of COVID-19, according to findings from a Thorax study published yesterday.
The study looked at 27,056 irregular and 21,836 permanent shift workers between ages 40 to 69, as well as 235,135 non-shift workers, all identified in the UK Biobank.When compared with non-shift workers—those who worked regular daytime hours—irregular shift workers were associated with a 2.42 odds ratio (OR; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.92 to 3.05) of contracting COVID-19, while permanent shift workers had an OR of 2.50 (95% CI, 1.95 to 3.19), both after adjusting for age, sex, deprivation index, and ethnicity.